ongoing diarrhea

So our kitten has been having problems with diarrhea now for a couple months. Shes about 8 months old now, and was 5 months when we got her. A little over 2 months ago i took her to the vet because she was throwing up often and had diarrhea. So the vet gave us a dewormer and some diet food and that seemed to work, but she didnt eat the diet food (extremely picky). So i figured the dewormer helped. We had about a month or so of no vomiting and solid but mushy poop. It was taking shape so i figured she was good and that it was better than diarrhea. Well now the last few weeks the diarrhea has come back, she poops 2 to 3 a day and its either really runny or really mushy, and it stinks! She covers it up but it still smells up the whole apartment for a couple hours. Shes also vomites twice in the last month, nothing like before where it was every few days. Have any of you had problems like this or any suggestions as to whats going on? Could it be a food allergy? Right now the only food she will eat is purina pro plan, and only the wet. I have never seen her touch any dry food. Now with the purina, i feed her a lot of flavors in that brand...so Idk if its an allergy or maybe im feeding too many different types of the purina.

tewing84 said:

So our kitten has been having problems with diarrhea now for a couple months. Shes about 8 months old now, and was 5 months when we got her. A little over 2 months ago i took her to the vet because she was throwing up often and had diarrhea. So the vet gave us a dewormer and some diet food and that seemed to work, but she didnt eat the diet food (extremely picky). So i figured the dewormer helped. We had about a month or so of no vomiting and solid but mushy poop. It was taking shape so i figured she was good and that it was better than diarrhea. Well now the last few weeks the diarrhea has come back, she poops 2 to 3 a day and its either really runny or really mushy, and it stinks! She covers it up but it still smells up the whole apartment for a couple hours. Shes also vomites twice in the last month, nothing like before where it was every few days. Have any of you had problems like this or any suggestions as to whats going on? Could it be a food allergy? Right now the only food she will eat is purina pro plan, and only the wet. I have never seen her touch any dry food. Now with the purina, i feed her a lot of flavors in that brand...so Idk if its an allergy or maybe im feeding too many different types of the purina.

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Has her stool been tested for common parasites like Giardia and Coccidia?

Hi tewing.I agree with Stephen as per testing a kitties can get all kinds of things.Does your baby go outside?Or strictly inside.After having those tests and if they come back negative then yes i would look at possible allergies.Most allergies are to the main proteins in the food.The first ingredient on any can of food should say the meat.Chicken,turkey,fish etc.I would recommend and there is a section in this group about nutrition.Maybe someone more computer savvy will send you the link but i would recommend only trying one flavor.Only dealing with one type of meat.Say start with turkey or something.It doesn't work overnight.You have to give it time.To be honest you feeding your baby canned is excellent IMO.I would never introduce dry ever & she will never know of it.Urinary issues are a contributor big time with dry as cats drink very little water originating from the desert.So that 75% water content or whatever is in your can is flushing the bladder & urinary tract which IMO is excellent.Keep a log book if you can.And this will have to include treats etc.People food etc.They should all be stopped.Just the canned and sticking with one flavor first for like two weeks straight.Writing down diarrhea,vomits etc.If nothing really changes you would move to another main protein food & so on.Some kitties do have allergies to certain things.It is difficult to find out what.But we know how dehydrating diarrhea is long term.It is just not goo for the babe & to be honest cats hate having diarrhea.Also the anal glands may not be expressing properly either.your vet can examine them & make sure they are working.Ask your vet if you can introduce some canned pumpkin to her diet.if she will eat it.Not pie filling.A good probiotic as the gut flora from diarrhea will be all haywire.Have you tried I/D vet canned from your vet.It is a highly digestible food that some kitties do very well on.But first i personally would rule out any parasites as many kitties need to be wormed more than once and like what Stephen has suggested.For hydration you can add small amounts of bottled water to her canned.Not too much but dehydration will be happening.Some recommend pedialyte.They would have to chime in for you.Your vet can assess the dehydration status of your kitty.Don't leave it as chronic water loss from diarrhea will in fact make your kitty feel like heck and may go off food completely.I would call and make an appt as soon as you can if it were me.

Hope that helps Honey & Hugs to the babe.C.

No she is strictly indoors, only time she gets to go out is when I'm sitting on the patio. We have some chicken wire in front of our balcony so she can't get out. I've got a vet appointment this weekend and I'm suppose to bring a stool sample, so hopefully that can tell us a little more. I really do need to start keeping a log, to try and see if I can pin point it. What would the canned pumpkin do for her?

Hi Tewing84.Good about taking a sample in.Hopefully they guided you through it how to do it when it is diarrhea.Pumpkin imo will not hurt her at all.100% canned.Not pie filling.Sometimes it will soak up some of the liquid making it more like soft icecream & not splat.

You can freeze it in small icecube trays covered in saran.So the whole can does not go to waste.After frozen put the cubes into a freezer bag & keep in the freezer.Just take out on  a plate covered in saran in your fridge what you would use in two days.

Then chuck any leftovers.Try calling your vet in the Am & get dosing from him/her.Some kitties will like it.Others don't.So just depends.Soemwill take it syringed with some chicken babyfood added.Forti flori which is from your vet I have seen @ times it take liquid & make it into logs.

You'd have to ask your vet if they have it.Here in Canada it comes in single servings in little envelopes you keep in the fridge.pls ask your vet.Both things can help with reg.diarrhea.Just depends on what you are dealing with & I know how hard it is.It is not fun & not fun for your baby.

A log book like i said will help you tremendously.I found it great and not alot of work.Just lined paper,date,duotang or binder.That's it.

HTH Hugs to the babe.C

Very well could be a food/protein allergy. May want to ask vet for an Rx for a special GI diet to see if that helps.

I'm dealing with a similar problem with my 6 month old kitten Sam. She had loose and smelly stools on Hills Kitten Chicken + Liver formula. Switched to a partially raw diet  and she got even worse over 3 weeks of time - constant trips to litter box, straining to produce dime sized drops of diarrhea. 

Got an Rx for Hills w/d canned and that cleared things up immediately. You may want to try this first.

One of my vets thinks chicken could be the allergen which causes problems. This would make sense as chicken was the common ingredient in both diets. The w/d has pork as it's primary protein source. He recommended I try another protein source. I'm currently mixing in a bit of cooked turkey breast with the w/d food to see how that goes. Going to give that a week and see how it goes. I think the key is going slow and gradually introducing the new food.

Good luck.